Feds Drop Investigation Against Sharpton

According to the Associated Press, “federal prosecutors have decided not to seek criminal charges against the Rev. Al Sharpton over his chronic tax problems, his lawyers said Tuesday.

The investigation was disbanded only after the government received a down payment Monday topping $1 million on a tax debt that had threatened to land Sharpton before a grand jury, the minister's lawyers said.

Sharpton said Tuesday he was glad to be in the clear. ‘I'm just grateful to God and my family, and all of our supporters,’ he said.

More payments will follow as Sharpton clears up a decade's worth of delinquent tax bills related to his personal business interests and his Harlem civil rights group.

Prosecutors and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents spent months investigating Sharpton's finances but ultimately concluded that his tax problems were better handled as a civil matter, his lawyers said.

The IRS and New York state and city tax agencies claim that Sharpton and his organization, the National Action Network, collectively owe millions of dollars in back taxes and penalties.

The exact amount Sharpton owes has not been revealed by either the government or Sharpton's lawyers, but there is evidence the debt is sizable.

The IRS obtained a $931,397 lien against Sharpton. City and state officials said he owned them another $933,577. Separately, the National Action Network said in its most recent tax filing that it owed at least $1.9 million in payroll taxes and related interest.

Sharpton, who was defiant when the probe became public in December, claiming it was part of a government smear campaign, sounded more contrite Tuesday.

He said both he and the civil rights group would clean up their books and complete a reorganization intended to ensure the group's long-term fiscal stability.”

Al Sharpton’s Tax Case Heats Up

According to NY Post.com, thing are getting interesting in Rev. Al Sharpton’s tax case. The IRS began sending out numerous subpoenas to Sharpton’s top donors. Below is a snippet of the article.

“Anheuser-Busch, the brewer of Budweiser and Michelob, confirmed yesterday that it received a federal subpoena in connection to its charitable giving to Sharpton's National Action Network. ‘We have received a subpoena and are cooperating with the IRS,’ the company said in a statement.

Sharpton blasted the subpoena as a ‘fishing expedition’ and said his donors are proud of their financial support. The St. Louis-based corporation donated between $100,000 and $499,000 to NAN in 2007 alone, according to its Web site, but declined further comment about its relationship with Sharpton. A knowledgeable source said several other corporate donors received or would soon receive subpoenas.

Sharpton himself, his business entities and his nonprofit civil-advocacy group owe millions in back taxes, documents show. The IRS and the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn have an ongoing probe into Sharpton's finances going back to his 2004 run for president and stewardship of NAN.

Last year, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began a probe of NAN because it failed to follow state financial-disclosure regulations for nonprofits. Cuomo's office has since turned over its NAN file to the US Attorney's Office. As of 2006, the most recent year that financial documents for the group are publicly available, it owed $1.9 million in payroll taxes and penalties.”